The Lifelong Power of Close Relationships
親密關系的終生力量
By Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz
For 85 years (and counting)， the Harvard Study of Adult Development has tracked an original group of 724 men and more than 1，300 of their male and female descendants over three generations， asking thousands of questions and taking hundreds of measurements to?nd out what really keeps people healthy and happy.
85年來（這一數字還在不斷增加），“哈佛大學成人發展研究項目”（Harvard Study of Adult Development）追蹤了原始實驗小組中的724名男性及其1300多名后代（其中男女均有，且橫跨三代人）。期間，研究人員向他們提出過數千個問題，進行過數百次測試評估，只為找到人們保持健康與獲得快樂的真正原因。
Through all the years of studying these lives， one crucial factor stands out for the consistency and power of its ties to physical health， mental health and longevity: good relationships.
在對這些人的生活持續多年的研究中，有一個關鍵因素脫穎而出，表現出它與身體健康、心理健康以及長壽之間具有緊密且穩定的關聯，那便是良好的情感關系。
In 2008， we telephoned the wives and husbands of Harvard Study couples in their 80s every night for eight nights. We spoke to each partner separately and asked them a series of questions about their days. On days when these men and women spent more time in the company of others， they were happier.
2008年，我們曾連續八晚，每晚給哈佛研究項目中年過八旬的受試者打電話，同他們及其配偶聊天。我們會與夫妻雙方單獨通話，問他們一系列關于日常生活的問題。結果顯示，在這群人與其他人相處時間更久的那些日子，他們的幸福感也會更高。
Like most older people， those in the Harvard Study experienced day-to-day?uctuations in their levels of physical pain and health di?culties. But we found that the people who were in more satisfying relationships were bu?ered somewhat from these ups and downs of mood—their happiness did not decline as much on the days when they had more pain. Their happy marriages seemed to have a protective e?ect.
和大多數老年人一樣，參與哈佛研究的老年人平時也會遇到大大小小的身體疼痛及健康問題。但我們發現，能夠從自己的情感關系中獲得更多滿足感的人，就能從這些情緒起伏中獲得某種程度的緩沖——在疼痛加劇的那幾天，他們的幸福感并不會減弱太多。他們幸福的婚姻生活，似乎起到了某種保護作用。
Today we live in much more complicated environments， so meeting our social needs presents di?erent challenges. We might be sitting on a gold mine of vitality that we are not paying attention to， because it is eclipsed by the shiny allure of smartphones or pushed to the side by work demands.
如今，我們生活的環境要復雜得多，這也對滿足我們的社交需求帶來了不同挑戰。我們或許正坐擁著一座“活力金礦”，但卻視若無睹，因為要么是閃閃發亮的智能手機誘惑著我們，掩蓋了它的光芒，要么是面對各種工作需求，它唯有退居其次。